Have the entire world at your fingertips with Barefoot World Atlas for iPad

Barefoot World Atlas is an educational iPad app that is essentially a globe filled with information in the form of text, narration, and photos. As you scroll around and zoom in on the globe, you will discover various points of interest along the earth's surface and the official flag for each country.

Tapping on anything that appears on the globe will give you more information about it. For example, tapping on the strange, horned creature roaming northern Canada gives information about muskoxen -- what they eat, what their coats are like, and why they're even called muskoxen. If you don't want to or cant read the text, you can tap the volume icon to listen to geographer and BBC TV presenter Nick Crane narrate it. I must say -- I do love listening to Nick's British voice! After listening (or reading) about the muskoxen, you can also view a professional photograph to see what a muskox looks like.

If you tap on a country's flag, you'll be given the population, capital city, land area, highest point, currency, number of vehicles, average carbon dioxide emissions, and current weather & time. The main issue with this information is that it's all in US units of measure (feet, miles, Fahrenheit) and the currency rates are with respect to the US dollar. So if you're not from the US, a lot of this information won't be very enlightening.

As you scroll around the globe, the music will change to reflect the region that you're exploring. All of the music is very well done and the transitions blend nicely. I've caught myself leaving the app open while working just to listen to the music (I'm actually listening to the music associated with Colombia as I write this review).

If you come across something you really like and think is especially neat, you can mark it as a favorite for easy access later. You can also search for information by region, country, or feature.

The Good

Tons of information

Includes professional photographs and 360 degree images

Narration is nice

Population, capital city, land area, highest point, currency, and current weather & time for all countries

Runs very smoothly

Search by region, country, or feature

The Bad

Cannot change units

The bottom line

Barefoot World Atlas is an excellent app for children and adult alike. Everyone is bound to learn something new and have fun at the same time.

Former app and photography editor at iMore, Leanna has since moved on to other endeavors. Mother, wife, mathamagician, even though she no longer writes for iMore you can still follow her on Twitter @llofte.

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Reader comments

Have the entire world at your fingertips with Barefoot World Atlas for iPad

Great app and review. I would love for my wife to read this but I don't see any link to email this review/article or even a link to it. If this is possible can you email me and let me know. (The request is to the iMore staff or moderator for this review only) Thank you.

Would like iMore to review the other various Atlas / Globe apps available. I'm a bit of a map junky, and would love to know which paid app would make the best investment and best utilizes the awesome iPad 3 retina display. The screen shots for this app don't appear to show any detailed political, geological, or environmental layers existing on the virtual globe (having a more kid-friendly cartoon feel) ... Do they exist?
Thanks!

Fantistic job ladies .. Been foiolwlng you on Twitter and was waiting with baited breath to see how it all turned out. Impressed with the content, the presentation and the way it is all delivered. Thumbs up from me.Have to say sit or squat is a definite fave of mine, and having a picture woah that's the icing on the cake. Ladies always work on the state of the loo, whether its to eat somewhere or just use the facilities. Thanks so much for brining this to mine (and everybody else's) attention.Keep up the good work.;o)

I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for wonderful info I was looking for this info for my mission.
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